United States v. Rider
| Decision Date | 17 February 2023 |
| Docket Number | 4:20-CR-232 (2) |
| Parties | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, v. CHAD MICHAEL RIDER |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Texas |
Pending before the Court are Defendant's Motion for New Trial (Dkt. #173), Defendant's Supplement to His Motion for New Trial (Dkt. #179), and Government's Motion to Strike Defendant's “Supplement to His Motion for New Trial” (Dkt. #180). Having considered the motions and the relevant law, the Court finds that the Defendant's Motion for New Trial (Dkt. #173) should be DENIED and that Government's Motion to Strike Defendant's “Supplement to His Motion for New Trial” (Dkt. #180) should be GRANTED.
This case arises out of a scheme to sexually exploit minor children in the local community by placing hidden cameras in various locations to film the minor children while undressing. The leader of it all was David Alan Pettigrew (“Pettigrew”), the head pastor at Denison Church of the Nazarene, who had a hard drive full of thousands of files that included sexually explicit photos and videos of minor victims. This specific case involves Pettigrew's co-conspirator, Defendant Chad Michael Rider (“Rider”), and his alleged involvement in the scheme.
The Government charged Rider with three counts in the First Superseding Indictment under 18 U.S.C. § 2251 subsections (a) and (e), for conspiracy and attempt for the substantive offense of the Sexual Exploitation of Children which is also known as the Production of Child Pornography (Dkt. #96). Each count refers to the same conduct, the filming of minor children, but in a different location. Count One refers to the cameras that were set up in the Denison Church of the Nazarene, filming minor children while they were undressing and bathing after various events that were held by the church (Dkt. #138 at p. 1). Count Two refers to the cameras that were set up in the bathroom of one of Rider's neighbors, filming the neighbor's daughter while she was in the bathroom at various times (Dkt. #138 at p. 1). Count Three refers to the cameras that were set up in Rider's home, filming a young girl who was living with the Rider family while she was undressing and showering (Dkt #138 at p. 1). On July 22, 2022, following a four-day trial the jury found Rider guilty on all three counts (Dkt. #164).
From 2006 to 2020, Pettigrew worked as the head pastor at the Denison Church of the Nazarene in Denison, Texas. Pettigrew also assisted with the church's “children's department,” which was a youth group of children and teenagers that met about twice a week at the church without parental supervision. The church had multiple rooms that were designated specifically for the children's department. During certain events with the youth group, Pettigrew could film sexually explicit videos of the minor children in one of these rooms (the “children's room”) because of situations that he orchestrated.
The Government introduced evidence at trial that the federal government first learned about Pettigrew's criminal scheme involving minors back in June of 2019 when it received notice from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that a user uploaded images associated with child pornography to the application Kik. Federal officers also received a tip in May of 2020 that child pornography was uploaded to Yahoo!'s servers. The Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) used both reports and ultimately tracked the user's IP address back to Pettigrew. On August 6, 2020, officers executed a valid search warrant for Pettigrew's home. During the search, Pettigrew agreed to speak with the officers and admitted that the relevant Kik account and Yahoo! email address belonged to him. Eventually, the officers also searched the church, where they obtained an external hard drive that contained sexually explicit videos and photos of minor children. Pettigrew was arrested that same day. On April 7, 2021, Pettigrew pleaded guilty to one violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2251, subsections (a) and (e) for the Sexual Exploitation of Children; Conspiracy and Attempt (Dkt. #58). On August 23, 2021, the Court sentenced Pettigrew to 360 months of imprisonment, to be followed by a 15-year term of supervised release (Dkt. #86 at pp. 2-3).
After the officers obtained the hard drive from the church, the officers reviewed the contents of the files. The hard drive contained thousands of files of minor children in various locations at various times, including moments where the minor children were undressing or fully naked. The record indicates that DHS investigators were able to pinpoint that all the video files were taken in four different locations-three residential homes and the church where Pettigrew worked. DHS investigators identified two main adults that were both seen and heard on the video files: Pettigrew and Rider. On August 21, 2020, the officers obtained and executed a search warrant for Rider's home. During the search, Rider voluntarily spoke with the officers and denied any knowledge about filming minors. Rather, Rider informed the officers that he assisted Pettigrew and set up audio only devices in the children's room of the church, but Rider did not believe that they were actually filming the children because of his conversations with Pettigrew.
In reviewing the videos that were taken at the church, the video files depicted the children's room after multiple events. The record indicates that the church would host events such as car washes and “sibling fight nights,” which consisted of various competitions such as the teenagers pouring Sprite on one another and attempting to get cotton balls to stick on their sibling. During these events, the children would understandably get messy, and the children would be instructed to go in the children's room at different times to clean up once the event concluded. In the children's room, there was a plastic swimming pool, a bucket of water, washrags, and various toiletries that the children could use to wash up. Once they were done “bathing,” the children could change into a clean set of clothes in that same room. However, what the children did not know was that there were numerous hidden cameras in the children's room that captured videos of the children changing and bathing. The cameras were angled specifically to capture the children in certain positions where the child would be changing or fully naked. Both Pettigrew and Rider are heard and seen at various times in these video files.
Further investigation by the DHS revealed the locations of the three residential homes: Pettigrew's home, Rider's home, and the home of one of Rider's neighbors. Rider can be seen and heard at various times during the videos that were taken in Rider's home. The videos that were taken in the neighbor's home depicts neither Rider nor Pettigrew in the videos, but the evidence introduced at trial indicated that out of the two, only Rider would have access to specific bathroom in question where the neighbor's daughter was filmed.
During the relevant time for this case, Rider was a member of the Denison Church of the Nazarene and was the President of the Nazarene Youth Institute, which meant that he worked directly with the children at the church. Because of his position, Rider was present at all the abovementioned events regarding “sibling fight nights” and the car washes, along with Pettigrew and the minor children.
Rider had two daughters and a wife living at home with him. However, at some point, the Rider family also took in a young girl that was a friend of one of Rider's daughters. The young girl had a tough home life and had attended the church that Rider worked at with Rider's daughter. The young girl developed a relationship with the Rider family, and Rider and his wife received legal guardianship over the young girl. At some point, the young girl was filmed by the hidden cameras because pictures of her in the bathroom were uploaded to the hard drive that was found in Pettigrew's office.
Rider and his family developed a friendship with Rider's neighbor and his family. At some point, the neighbor's daughter was also filmed by hidden cameras in her bathroom, as those files also appeared on the hard drive. The evidence introduced at trial is conflicting regarding who set these cameras up. The Government presented testimony that Rider would go to his neighbor's home from time to time and had even been in the bathroom where the hidden cameras were placed. Additionally, Pettigrew had never been in the neighbor's home. However, Rider countered this argument and presented evidence indicating that he believed it was the neighbor that set up the cameras in his own home, recording his own daughter after he became friends with Pettigrew.
Ultimately the jury was tasked with answering the question of whether Rider took part in Pettigrew's scheme, and if so, what actions were attributable to him. The jury convicted Rider on all three counts, finding that he participated in the scheme and did so for each location. On August 5, 2022, Rider timely filed the pending Motion for New Trial, alleging ten reasons why he is entitled to a new trial (Dkt. #173). On August 25, 2022, the Government filed a response, opposing all ten allegations (Dkt. #177). On October 28, 2022, Rider filed the pending Supplemental Motion, alleging two additional reasons he is entitled to a new trial (Dkt. #179). Rider's Supplemental Motion was filed after the deadline to file a motion for new trial. See FED. R. CRIM. P. 33(b). On October 31, 2022, the Government filed the pending Motion to Strike, requesting that the Court strike Rider's...
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